Metallurgical furnace.



PATENTED JUNE 30, 1903.-

' M. P. BOSS. METALLURGICAL FURNACE.

APPLIUATIOH FILED MAR. 12, 1902.

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UNITED STATES,

PATENT OFFICE.

HYDRO-CARBON GINVIA.

SMELTING COMPANY, A CORPORATION QF'WEST VIR- METALLURGICAL FU R- NAICVE..I

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 732,264, dated June 30, 1903.

Application filed March 12, 1902. Serial No. 97,961. (No model.)

T allwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARTIN PRIOR Boss, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Francisco, county of San Francisco, State of 5. California, have invented, certain new and useful Improvements in Metallurgical Furnaces, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a furnace adapted no to carryinto effect'all the metallurgical operations necessary to convert a metal-bearing ore into pig metal. 7

My invention consists in the construction and arrangement of thechambers. in which I the metallurgicaloperations are 7 conducted; also in the construction and arrangement of the chambers in which the air used in the furnace is heated; also to the means employed usually required to conduct the metallurgical operations necessary in a single structure; to f reduce the amount of fuel required by utilizing the heat units set'free from the ores under treatment-as, for instance, the sulfur in a pyritic ore; to provide means for making use of a hydrocarbon fuel in place of a solid fuel;

to provide means for heating the air used in the furnace and for-delivering the air into the furnace under pressure; to provide means for moving the ore in the calcining-chamber, and generally to improve the construction of the chambers in which the metallurgical operations are conducted and the furnace as a whole.

The accompanying drawings will serve to illustrate my invention.

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through the furnace. Fig. 2 is a plan view on the line VV of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view on the line W W of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a vertical section on the line X X of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a vertical section on the line Y Y of Fig.

supported on'arches 6.

practice.

1. Fig. 6 is a vertical'secti'on on the line Z Z of Fig. 1..

Similar numerals and letters indicate like parts f j In the drawings, 5 indicates the body of the furnace. The furnace may be considered as divided into three chambers or sections?. e. A, the calcining-chamber; B, reducing-chamber; C, oxidizing-chamber. 5 The terms. given these chambers serve to indicate jge'nerally the metallurgical operations which take place within the respective chambers. Other operations,however,may take place in such chambers.

It will be observed from the drawings that the hearths of the chambers A and B are inment of the ore toward the chamber 0,

The hearths of the respective chambers are These, however, are not essential, but will be found convenient in The roof of the respective ,chambers, as shown in thepresent case, is formed of shaped bricks 7, between which'arelocated pipes 8, adapted to convey water or other cooling fluid. Such a roof I have found to-be excellently adapted for use with a furnace such as described. I, however, do notinany wise limit myself to the use of sucl a'roof,"

Situated over the roof of .thechambers B and O is an air-heating chamber 9. This airchamber communicates withlthe; atmosphere through an opening 10 andwith th e chamber 11, under the chamberB, through the flues 12. Located in the forward end of the chamber 11 is a steam or air jet 13, which serves to draw the air through chambers 9 and 11 and dis.- charge it into chamber 14E under chamber O, and thence through the air-passages15; in the front walls of the chamber 0, directly into-the ch amber. By this means hot air in any amount may be delivered as required into the cham her 0.

Located belowa portion of the chamberA is a reciprocating rake 6. The rake is secured to a carriage 17, which moves on a track 18. Forward and backward motion is given to the carriage bynicans of the chain 19, passing over the pulleys 20, through the link 21. The pulleys receive their motion from any suitable source of power through the pulley 22.

23 indicates hydrocarbon fuel injectors connected to a source of fuel through a pipe 2i. These injectors may be of any suitable construction and have any suitable location in the furnace. In the drawings I have shown three injectors on each side of the chamber 0 and live injectors across the front of the chamber C.

25 indicates a slag-dam in the chamber C; 26, slag-doors; 27, door through which the metal may be drawn off; 28, friable hearth in the chamber 0.

Situated at the upper end of the chamber A is a hopper 29, and immediately in front of the hopper is a chimney-flue 30. Located under the hopper is an ore-feed drum 31.

32 is a swingin door in front of the rake 16.

The operation of my device is as follows: The ore is fed into the hopper 29 and falls upon the hearth of the calcining-chamber A. Vithin the calcining-chamber A the ore is subjected to a gradually-increasing temperature as it moves down the chamber. In order to insure the movement of the ore down the chamber A and into the reducing-chamber B, the rake 1G is reciprocated through the ore. The ore in passing through the chamber A is calcined and parts with its moisture, as well, in the case of sulfur ores, with a portion of the sulfur. \Vhen the ore is delivered into the chamber B, it is subjected to a much higher temperature, which is due partially to the heat from the chamber 0 passing toward the flue 30 and partially, in the case of sulfur ores, to the combustion of the sulfur in the ore. In this chamber the metal, to a large extent, separates from its slag. The slag, being the lighter, finds its way into the chamber 0 and is drawn oif by the slag-door 26 in front of the dam 25. The metal also moves down with the slag, but,being of greater specific gravity, falls below it, and when delivered into the chamber 0 flows under the dam 25 and finds its way over and in the mass forming the friable hearth 28.

The hearth 28 may be formed of any suitable material, such as sand or dolomite, as is common in reverberatory furnaces. Preferably, however, I form the hearth with a sand or dolomite bottom and charge over it a high-grade matte, fifty to sixty per cent.

The metal and such portion of the slag as is not drawn off by the slag-door 26 in front of the dam mixes with the matte upon the hearth.

The metal and slag in the chamber 0 is subjected to an oxidizing-temperature produced by reason of the hydrocarbon-jets 23 and the air-blasts delivered through the openings 15 in the front of the furnace.

The effect of the treatment in the chamber C is to oxidize out all remaining sulfur or eife ct a combination between the imp urities for instance, the iron associated with the copper and the slag or flux, which may subsequently be drawn off from the furnace. Finally, the crude metal maybe drawn from the chamber 0.

I wish it understood that I do not limit myself to the means shown for introducing highly-heated air into the oxidizing-chamber, as other means may be employed.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. A metallurgical furnace, comprising in its construction an inclined calcining-chamber, an inclined reducing-chamber, a horizontal oxidizing-chamber, said chambers connected together at progressively lower levels; means for producing the required atmospheres in said chambers, and means for heating the air fed to the oxidizing-chamber, said means consisting of chambers located over and under the oxidizing and reducing chambers.

2. A metallurgical furnace, comprising in its construction an inclined calcining-chamber, an inclined reducing-chamber, a horizontal oxidizin g-chamber, said chambers c011- nected together at progressively lower levels, means for producing the required atmospheres in said chambers, and a continuous roof for said chambers having channels therein through which cooling-bodies may be transmitted.

3. A metallurgical furnace, comprising in its construction an inclined calcining-chamber, an inclined reducing-chamber, a horizontal oxidizing-chamber, said chambers c011- nected together at progressively lower levels, a roof for said chambers having channels therein through which cooling-bodies may be transmitted and an air-heating chamber having a portion of its length situated above the roof of the oxidizing and reducing chambers.

4.. A metallurgical furnace, comprising in its construction an oxidizing-chamber, an airheating chamber, a series of hydrocarbonburncrs arranged in front of the oxidizingchamber and discharging into said chamber, and means for drawing the air from the airheating chamber and introducing it into the oxidizing-chamber under the hydrocarbonburners.

5. A metallurgical furnace, comprising in its construction an oxidizing-chamber, a series of hydrocarbon-burners arranged to (lischarge into the interior of the chamber from opposite sides, a series of hydrocarbon-burners arranged to discharge into the interior of the furnace from the front, and means for introducing hot air under pressure below the hydrocarbon-burners at the front of the furnace.

6. In a metallurgical furnace, the combination of a reducing-chamber, an oxidizingchamber, means for producing the required atmospheres in said chambers, an air-heatin g chamber situated partially over said chambers, and partially under said chambers, and connected by a vertical flue, said air-heating chamber open to the atmosphere at one end, and means located therein for creating a movement of the air toward the interior of the oxidizing-chamber.

7. A'metallurgical furnace, comprising in its construction a reducing-chamber, an oxidizing-chamber, said chambers connected together, means for producing the required atmospheres in said chambers, a heating-chamber provided with fines situated over and under the reducing and oxidizing chambers and which follow the contour of the roof and WVitnesses:

J. E. PEARSON, O. E. STEOHER. 

